Improved fibrous-composition tube



trai (gim ROBERT W. RUSSELL, OF NEW YORK, N. Letters Patent o. 88,518,dated March 30, 1869.

IMPROVED I'IBROUS-COMPOSI'I'ION TUBE.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To whom it may concern Be it known that 1, ROBERT W. RussnLL, of NewYork, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Tubes of Fibrous Composition, for the conveyanceof gas and water, and for enclosing electric-telegraph wires, and forother purposes; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the same.

The fibrous-composition casings, or tubes, to which my inventionprincipally relates, are formed of cane and other vegetable fibre,disintegrated by the explosive force of steam, in combination withbituminous and other compositions, as hereinafter specified.

While the constituent elements which enter into the composition of thetubes, or casings remain in all cases substantially the same, yetthe-particular mode of constructing such tubes, or casings may vary, toaccord with the varying purposes for which they are designed. I willtherefore describe the manner in which I prefer to proceed to constructtubes, or casings for gas or water, and telegraph-wires, which willillustrate the manner in which they can be manufactured for the variousother purposes for which such articles are usually employed.

One of theobjects I have in view, is to produce good and cheapfibrous-composition casings, or tubes, for the protection of the wiresof lines of electric telegraph, so that the same may be laid upon orunder the ground.

To effect this object, I take a wire, of iron, copper, or other suitablemetal, and cover it with several successive layers, or thicknesses ofcane, or other vegee.

table fibre, the product of the disintegrating-process by the explosiveforce of steam, as described in A. S. LymanspatentofAugust 3, 1858,which several layers, orsheets are fastened together with pitch,bitumen, or gum, or other suitable materials, so as to be anhydrous andinsulating.

This casing, with the metallic conductor therein, is made.in suitablelengths convenient for transportation, and the telegraph-line iscomposed of a series of these casings, put together and protected ashereinafter mentioned.

The said casings may be covered by the steam-blown cane-fibre protected,by concrete; or enclosed in a metallic tube or sheathing; or in a tubeof earthenware, cement, or slate; or in a tube of fibrous composition,coated as hereinafter specified.

The tube, when ready to be laid down,-is about ten feet long, havingwithin it the wire, nine feet three inches long, covered with theinsulating casing. A portion of the wire, to the length of three inches,is cut in the shape of an elongated cone, so as to fit into the wire ofthe adjoining tube, which has been prepared to receive it; or the wiresmay be connected by other means, as, for example, with books and eyes,or screwed togethein v When sheets of paper or felt, made from theaforesaid fibre, are used, they may be wound round the wire, theadhesive matter being applied to such sheet before or whilst they'arebeing rolled or wound, in the same way as heretofore adopted by themanufacturers of fibrous-composition pipes; or, the casing may be madefirst, and the wire inserted afterwards. And the casings may be formedso that the end of one section may be inserted and fitte'd in the end ofthe other, and there. fastened, with pitch, bitumen, or gum, or othercomposition, as aforesaid, so as to form a continuous and solid casing;and, in addition to the pitch .or' other cen'ienting-matter, the twoends may be further held together and pressed, if circumstances shouldrequire it, by a band of twine, cord, wire, or metal, drawn tight. I

The casings may be united as above described, by either of-the followingmethods:

The casing being, for example, two inches thick, is cut away, or reducedin size at one end of it, for the length of one foot, to the thicknessof an inch, so as to be inserted telescopically into the adjoiningcasing, which is cored out, or thinned frointhe inside, for the samelength, also to the thickness of an inch, in sucha way as to receive theend of the other casing, so that when brought together, the one beinginserted in the end of the other, and fastened with pitch, bitumen, orother composition, as aforesaid, they will form a continuous and solidcasing, the net length of each being nine feet.

In lieu of the above method, one end of the casing may bemade largerthan the other end, to the extent of one or two feet, so as to receive acasing of the full thickness, the two being fastened together, asaforesaid.

When the connection is to be mad, heat is applied .to the outer casing,so as to soften the pitch or other cementing-matter, and the two endsare pressed and held together, as above specified.

Or, when the casing is composed of fibrous-composition slabs, made bymixing and consolidating a composition with the fibre, as dcscribed inan application for Letters Patent in my name, now pending in the UnitedStates Patent Office, the casing may be pressed or moulded with acollar, to receive the end of the next section. l

When the casing is composed of sheets, as aforesaid, it can be coveredwith said cane-fibre, which may be spun or twisted into a coarse rope,to be wound round the casing as it is beinglaid down, such rope-coveringbeing impregnated or not with tar, or other preservative matter, andthen covered with concrete.

Or, in lieu of the rope-covering and concrete, the

casing may be enclosed in a tube of metal, or cement, or in a fibroustube, made like the casing, and joined together in the same way, buthaving an outer covering of bitumen and sand, or other material, whichwill preserve the tube in the earth. The casing, or tube thus protected,may be laid in a trench dug out for the purpose of receiving it, andthere embedded in a casing of ordinary building-concrete.

I prefer having the wire half an inch thick, and the casing of the sameat least two inches thick, making the tube two and one-half inches indiameter, but other proportions may be substituted for these.

Instead of being buried in a trench, the casing, or tube may be laidupon the ground.

Another mode of making the tubes for the purpose aforesaid, and also forconveying gas and water, is as follows:

I take fibrous-composition slabs, made from the said fibre, mixed withbituminous or other composition, as aforesaid, and then pressed ormoulded into slabs.

These slabs, with bitumen or other composition, aforesaid, interposedbetween the layers, a e wound around a mandrel, or core, and'pressedhard. A sufficient space is left for the insertion of the metallicconductor, or the passage of water or gas.

The exterior of the casing thus made, is coated with a suitablecomposition, as, for instance, coal-tar, rosin, and sand, or ordinarybituminous mastic, so that the tube may be laid in the ground withoutany further protection than that afforded by such outer casing.

In pressing the fibrous slabs together to form the.

tube, one end of the tube may, as before mentioned, be pressed into theform of a collar, to receive the end of the next tube; and the joinedtubes are pressed and held together at the joints, as aforesaid.

Heretofore, various kinds of casings have been devised for enclosingtelegraph-wires, but the great cost of suitable fibre has prevented itsuse, in the manner and for the purposes aforesaid.

The principal material to be used, viz, the steamblown cane-fibre, canbe used freely, so as to have a casing and protection of the same, ofconsiderable thickness and strength, the cost of such fibre being verysmall, and the use of fibrous casings and tubes, in the way proposed,being thus rendered practicable.

By this method, a metallic conductor, much larger than the wirescommonly suspended in the air, can be conveniently used.

The advantage of a large, heavy wire over a light one is well known andrecognized in the telegraphic art.

The tubes, or casings being complete, the line can be easily andspeedily constructed.

The tubes can be laid upon the permanent roadway of a railroad, in atrench out along the spare ground of the road, or between the tracks,where there is a double track, and then covered, as aforesaid.

The above-described fibrous tubes, or C1Sll'lgS,W1l6th or made fromsheets of the said fibre, or'from the fibrous slabs, will serve as pipesto convev water or gas, or to cover and give strength to a pipe ofmetal, wood, cemen t, earthenware, or slate, to convey water or gas.

- The said fibrous material, charged with bituminous mastic, or othersuitable composition, as aforesaid, is wound or rolled around theinterior tube, and pressed hard, or the interior tube may be inserted inthe previously-formed casing.

The casings or outer tubes are made so as to fit each other, and arefastened together as aforesaid, or in any other suitable manner.

The main pipe can be tapped for service-pipes, in the usual way adoptedwhen compositioi'i-tubes are employed for conveying water. For thispurpose, I prefer to apply an iron band in two sections, drawn tightaround the tube, this band to receive an iron service-pipe, to bescrewed into the band, and to be carried through the .same,and throughthe fibrouscomposit-ion tube, into the main pipe.

The tubes, or casings should be of considerable thickness; beingcomposed of several layers of fibre, securely held together bystrongly-adhesive matter, they have great strength, and will resistpressure better than ordinary iron pipes. They are, moreover, cheaperthan iron pipes, and are bad conductors of heat or cold.

' Having now described my invention, and the manner in which the sameis, or may be, carried into effect.

. That I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The above-described manufacture of fibrous-composition casings, ortubes, for receiving or enclosing wires of telegraph-lines, such tubes,or casings being composed of webs or sheets of fibre, disintegrated'bythe explosive force of steam, in combination with bituminous or othercomposition, as atbresaid.

2. The method of making the said fibrous-composition tubes, for theconveyance of gas and water, and laying down and protecting the same,substantially as hereinb-etbre described.

3. As new articles of manufacture, the fibrous-composition casings,pipes,-and tubes made by the processes aforesaid, and for the purposesdescribed.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification,before two subscribing witnesses. R. W. RUSSELL. Witnesses:

M. BAILEY, 1 H.-E. BAILLIERE.

